Has anyone besides me used the US. Geological survey sites satilite viewer to get a overhead view look at rail yards? I also used my county web site which has areial photos of all the county it has a desant quaility photos I was able to see exactly how the W&LE yard was laidout including the turn table. My next stop is to check out the Norfolk Southern yard near me.
I used google maps and posted it a while ago, I cannot find the post though
I use maps all the time, before google maps came out I was using terraserver images. It’s terrific, you can print them out and splice the pages together, I have a nice large image of my local yard and have been planning my model with that image right there on the wall to show me how to do things, I’d recommend it to anyone looking to closely emulate a prototype. It’s one thing to stand on a bridge or walkway and make notes, but satellite imagery is practically a ready-made trackplan with rendered buildings and everything right there for you. It makes perfect sense.
I also occassionally look at other towns if I have funny corners to negotiate or if I’m in need of runarounds (and don’t have any locally)…that sort of thing. Pull up a city famous for it’s yards (I once spent a whole afternoon tracing routes through Chicago), examine and learn.
You reckon you could post a link for the geological site?
It is a simple program to use I was able to zoom into my house pretty neat to find the local yards.
This photo
Was helpful in creating this model of the Willits yard in 1917.
I’ve already got several changes in mind though.
Here’s another variation on this theme of what is useful about satelites for railfanning the past, wuith at least some application to modeling it.
I recently purchased a Garmin Legend C GPS unit. It comes with a rough map preloaded that will get you around on the interstate. Where it gets good for model railroaders checking out old rail lines is when you add one of the optional mapping upgrade packages that Garmin offers. I assume other GPS manufacturers offer similar upgrades, but here’s my expereince with this package.
I loaded map data from the Garmin United States Topo map data package version onto my GPS. Now it shows me where old rail lines are, even if they’re not immediately obvious. It identified several spots where I was not aware of an abandoned line in a trip home to see my parents in southern Indiana last weekend. The place is honerycombed with old branches that served coal mines in the past, but it found a few I hadn’t noticed in driving the road in the last quarter-century.
Another cool thing is that it actually has enough detail to give track layouts in most cases. It certainly shows where sidings existed, as I paralelled the NYC’s old Egyptian line on Illinois 1 south of Marshall. The line itself is obvious, but it was gone by the time I started using this route home in the early 1980s. Now I have a better idea of how it was operated and what it served in various towns along the way. Now if you’re dealing with an older abandoned line, this may not work, but anything that was operating trackage circa 1970 seems to be included.
Of course, having the advantage of the map showing you where exactly you are when the roads interesect tracks or old roadbeds is very useful in tracking any operating or ghost RR on terrain you are not familiar with.
If it helps you sell the idea of buying one of these to the rest of the family, the Legend C will also tell you where the closest bathroom stop is, as well as gas, food, etc. It will certainly fac
I just started using Microsoft’s Streets & Trips… I’m loving it… lets me see rail lines highways and get distances, see yards, locate terminals, and important scenic elements like historic building and shops, campgrounds and will do a built in web search for any area of map you highlight… It’s helping a great deal! [tup]
Peace.
Coyote
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/
I’m guessing it’s probably using the same source as the USGS, but hey, it’s good to have different options right?
They don’t have a Mac version yet [:(!], BUT I have used it on a PC, it is way cool, still 2D but it does let you see a different perspective. I can’t wait until they somehow morph the map for true 3D effect, maybe then have it in real time, we could railfan and follow the train, get industry info and track our favorite car or loco all over the planet [:p] Whew! Gotta stop drinking coffee!
Google Earth is the coolest thing since sliced bread. No joke.
It does have some 3D effects - you can check on and off major buildings and terrain. For the terrain, it just “wraps” a 2D image onto 3D. For example, I was playing with following a freeway that’s on a hill, and the freeway was leaning sideways because it’s a 2D image pasted onto the hill.
Google Earth is so awesome.
The past few years here in So Cal, the news people have been using these fancy 3D renderings when doing the weather. Since the day I saw it, I wanted to “play” with their program. Now I can.
No joke, I am one happy camper with Google Earth. I could play with it all day long.
Thanks guys for the heads up on Google man that is cool and a heck of a lot easier to use I have already put placemarks on several yards and locations of interest. I was also able to find a wye I never knew was there.